Tag: jacksonstrong

While the Mayor and some “concerned” residents have been busy with the invasion of Orthodox Jews, other citizens of Toms River have been busy doing other things: committing criminal acts. Committing criminal acts in Toms River. Committing criminal acts in the townships surrounding Toms River.

According to a report by NJ.com, Andrew Mayer, 28, of Toms River, was charged with working without a permit, working without a license and driving without a license apparently in relation to a blaze that damaged at least five buildings in Keyport. Mayer is no stranger to crime, and is currently facing charges of animal cruelty and criminal mischief in connection with a March 1, 2015, incident in which his pickup truck submerged in the frozen Toms River, killing his pet dog.

Asbury Park Press reports that Michael J. Rappleyea, 43, of Toms River was found dead in a Lakewood forest from an apparent overdose

According to the Toms River Patch, Anthony Huggins, 30, of Serrata Way, Toms River, Jamal E. Dew, 32, Tyler S. Martin, 22, and Christopher P. Viscel, 46, all of Toms River, were arrested in Manchester during the month of April. According to a separate report by the Patch:

Anthony Huggins, 30, of Serrata Way, Toms River, was arrested Tuesday night in the parking lot of the Comfort Inn on Route 37 by members of the Manchester Township Police Narcotics Enforcement Team, which was conducting surveillance, Capt. Todd Malland said.

Huggins was seen shortly after 10:30 p.m. parked in the lot in a 2014 Kia Forte, and police officers approached the car, Malland said. Investigation turned up the heroin and crack cocaine concealed in the hat Huggins was wearing, he said. Further investigation revealed Huggins had gone to the Comfort Inn with the intention of selling the heroin, Malland said. Police later found more heroin that Huggins had hidden on himself, Malland said.

In other news, The Toms River Police Department is seeking the public’s help in identifying a man they say stole baby formula from a Toms River grocery store.

Instead of busying themselves with combating crime, its seems the governing body has been been busy with other things: buying $10 million worth of land in a bid to keep Orthodox Jews out of Toms River. In a comical twist, in their haste to keep the Jews out, it seems the township forgot to speak to the owner of the property.

The hysteria of the Orthodox Jewish invasion continues with Dianne DeOliveira of “Ocean County’s Hometown Station” 92.7 WOBM reporting “New tactics circumvent No Knock law in Toms River”. With a headline like that, you would assume that the invasion has intensified. Wrong.

In at least one instance, a homeowner with a No Knock sticker was approached by an individual who showed up in a rented vehicle and claimed to be from Canada and unaware of the ordinance.

How in heavens name one instance qualifies as a “new tactic” beats me. Besides, the entire article only quotes one instance of one tactic. Hardly sounds like the onslaught of foreign forces invading as the headline implies.

“The biggest problem we’re having is people are telling their neighbors or the Neighborhood Watch captain or whatever, and they’re not reporting it to us directly and they’re not getting the information from the person who is soliciting,” said Little.

Why are the purported incidents not being reported to the police? Why are residents afraid to go on record? Is it because perhaps they may get caught in a little white or outright lie?

Further Little notes:

“They also think that just somebody driving down the street and looking at houses is a violation. That is not a violation,” said Little. He pointed out that that situation sometimes leads to calls to police about suspicious people.

“There’s a little bit of panic going on, at the same time, we understand everybody’s frustration. We know some of the tricks that are being used, or trying to be used, but there’s a fine line between somebody just driving or being another resident in our town, or somebody possibly wanting to be a resident in our town and doing something illegal,” explained Little.

Get a grip people. The mass hysteria that some of the rabid haters have created, is nothing but a bunch of smoke. Stop believing the anecdotal stupidity and move on.

Oh, and for all you idiots that don’t realize we live in America, in civilized society, just note this:

A police officer also must have probable cause to issue a summons and must win that in court beyond a reasonable doubt, according to Little.

So just because your neighbor claims to have seen a peeping Tom with curly sidelocks and a hooked nose at 3 AM doesn’t mean it’s true. And no, the police can’t do anything about it either.

Toms River Township took the next step to block Orthodox Jews from invading their land, and plan to purchase $10 million worth of land in the North Dover section of the town. According to Ocean County Politics (politicsOC.com)

The township council has approved over $10 million of open space purchases, with the township set to buy tracts of land in a neighborhood bordering Lakewood.

The Asbury Park Press speculates that the idea is to stop any future development of the land by Orthodox Jews that are invading from Lakewood.

We agree, but what are your thoughts? Hit us up in the comments sections or on social media using the links below.

The sheer volume of articles and posts do not seem to abate. Most of them are accompanied by “I am not an Anti-Semite but……”. How can an issue or problem be attributed to a specific faith– the Jewish one, but at the same time not be anti-Semitic?

Ira Stoll of The Algemiener calls out the New York Times on this issue, and I think he really drives the point home.

If these businessmen — Jona Rechnitz and Jeremy Reichberg — were, say, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, atheists or lapsed Catholics, do you think the Times would mention it in the third paragraph of the news item about the investigation? Of course not. It’s hard to see how the information is relevant here. The Timesstory doesn’t mention the religion of the police officials, or of the FBI agents, or of Mayor de Blasio, or of the federal prosecutor doing the investigating. Only the Orthodox Jews have their religion dragged into it.

Likewise, does the Times mention in its science or business pages the religion of the scientist or businessman every time that a successful discovery or profitable deal is made by an Orthodox Jew? No. But when there is a whiff of corruption or a grand jury investigation, you can be sure the newspaper will find a way to mention Orthodox Judaism prominently in a negative context.

When will the Asbury Park Press come clean? When will the paper admit its disdain and hate for Orthodox Jews?

Sometime over the past few days I happened upon this article by Kelli Finnegan in which Kellie describes her childhood memories of growing up in Toms River. Reading her article, I couldn’t help but wonder, what are we missing here? Toms River sounds like such a beautiful town (albeit with a history of hate). Driving through Toms River on various occasion, I had a similar impression.

So why so much hate? Why do folks like Johnny Arthur, Christy Barber, and Gina Marie DiRienzo, insist on making it their top priority that Orthodox Jews should not be allowed to live in Toms River? They claim they are not anti-Semites, yet a recent post from Gina indicates her true intentions.

Who are “they” and what does “stay strong” mean?

I can go on forever about the references that these hateful individuals make. It seems quite suspect when a group is supposedly concerned about local issues, but then posts articles from across the globe (e.g. Monsey, Kiryas Joel, and Isreal??) as if it relates to the matter at hand. It seems quite suspect when they claim the issue is about overzealous real estate agents, but then it seems that the issue is really about what the Jews have done to Lakewood. Its seems quite suspect when Gina Marie reposts the following from Johnny Arthur:

How in the same breath can you say “This is not anti-Semitic”, but preceding that, talk about ways to keep Orthodox Jews out of Toms River??

Why did Christy Barber start a Change.org petition to stop the Chabad (posts about the Chabad upcoming in the near future) from obtaining a use variance by claiming that by allowing the Chabad “to operate as a religious school will have a paralyzing effect on the traffic of an already congested road”, when it is a well known and documented fact that the Chabad only has a handful of students come by a few times a week for Hebrew lessons? Will 5-10 students paralyze the area? Does Christy have an issue with the adjacent Our Lady-Perpetual Help Church and George P. Vanderveer American Legion Post 129?

Joanna Curcio, 50, and Billie Lee Foster, 32, both of Toms River, were arrested after the Lakewood Police Department Street Crime Unit conducted a March 24th sting targeting prostitutes who advertised online to perform services at local hotels.

Are the residents and governing body okay with prostitutes living in Toms River? An outcry on #TomsRiverMatters and #TomsRiverStrong Facebook groups has yet to be seen. I guess they are too busy ensuring that Orthodox Jews do not move in and ruin their township. A township of prostitution (see additional info here and here) and hate.

One can understand their frustration. Overzealous real estate agents knocking on doors at all hours of the day. Strangers peeking in windows and chatting up children. Individuals parked in front of homes for hours. Sounds crazy. Indeed it does, but there is one big issue: most of these stories are anecdotal. Other than a handful of verified storys, multiple social media pages and media outlets like the Asbury Park Press and the Shore News Network have the residents of Toms River whipped into a frenzy over anecdotal evidence. Anecdotal evidence.

The question begs to be asked: why? Why are the residents of Toms River and other municipalities in Ocean County so concerned about the influx of Orthodox Jews into their towns? Why are they turning out in the hundreds, and in some cases the thousands, to township meetings to denounce the “invasion” of Orthodox Jews? If the issue was only about overzealous and harassing real estate agents, why are there constant references to “Lakewood”, “Jews”, “Hasidics”, “Orthodox Cult”, and even references to the massive conspiracy of Jews from NY, Israel, Lakewood, to take over Toms River and its environs?

In my quest to clear up some of my questions and to piece together this puzzle of madness, I decided to do a little research.

Klu Klux Klan

In February of 2011, the Asbury Park Press ran an article titled “The Unfortunate History of the Klan in Ocean County”. The Klu Klux Klan legally organized in the State of New Jersey in 1923. A short time later the Klan saw Ocean County membership grow to 2,000 members out of a population of 22,155. It did not take much time and the Klan was already heavily involved in activities throughout Ocean County including, Point Pleasant, Lakewood, Brick, Jackson, and Toms River. The Klans activity in in Ocean County is well documented:

On June 17, 1923, members of the Klan got into their robes at Lakewood High School and marched to the First Baptist Church, escorted by state and local police.

The Fourth of July was being celebrated in Huddy Park in Toms River. Hundreds of people gathered there. The Klan burned a 10-foot cross west of the Main Street bridge as its contribution to the celebration.

Further capitalizing on their growing membership in the area, the Klan held various meeting and rallies including the following:

A reported 2,000 people turned out for an August Klan gathering at the Toms River Methodist Church, most of them outside in the driving rain. The women’s auxiliary was there in force. The church, which stood at Hooper Avenue and Washington Street, is gone now, its education building converted into courtrooms for state courts.

In December the Klan rallied at Gulick Field in downtown Toms River, before marching through the streets. An estimated 500 people attended.

More recently:

On Aug. 11, 1979, David Duke of Louisiana attended a Klan rally in Barnegat and announced he would be a candidate for President. It was hosted by a misguided Aaron Morrison, 17, at his parent’s home, although his parents abhorred the Klan.

One has to wonder how many residents of Toms River were raised by parents or grandparents that were active Klan members or were complicit bystanders?

Of Skinheads and Neo-Nazis

Fast forward to 2015: The Toms River Patch reports that Toms River is home to one of 40 hate groups in the State of New Jersey. New Jersey as a whole is the 4th most active state with Skinhead hate groups in the United States. 75% of the hate groups in NJ are comprised of neo-nazi/skinhead hate groups, with three of them located in Toms River, Point Pleasant, and Brick. The Patch article was based off of data compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. In 2005, members of “The Hated” skinhead group were nabbed in a bomb plot as reported by the NY Daily News. The Hated is the group that is active in Toms River. One does not have to do further research to determine what these hate groups represent, what they have perpetrated, and what they continue to do.

One has to wonder how the residents of Toms River or Mayor Kelaher can allow a hate group to operate in their town? Are the residents and governing body of Toms River complicit in allowing this hate group to continue to operate? Where are the hundreds of residents that turn out in regards to the invasion of Orthodox Jews?

The United States Census Bureau

On the face of things, it seems that Toms River has a Jew problem. But that is not actually the case. Toms River seems to have a minority problem. Toms River has a African American and Hispanic, amongst others, problem. To determine this, I enlisted the help of the United States Census Bureau. Per the Bureaus 2010 census, Whites (this includes individuals reporting White as their only race) accounted for 89.7% of the towns population. Black or African American alone? 2.8%. Asian alone? 3.7%. I think you get the gist. Toms River has no interest in any minorities. I’d be shocked if the next census indicates an improvement in these numbers. Toms River does not want anyone that does not fit in their proverbial box. And that’s a shame. In 2016, you’d think the hate was long eradicated. Unfortunately, that is not the case. So don’t kid yourself into thinking that its just about the Orthodox Jews, because its not.

I began this article asking, why? Given the aforementioned, I think I know the answer. Hopefully you can come to the same conclusion.

ABC reports on the ongoing #TomsRiverStrong controversy. See report and video here.

The report quotes a Toms River resident that says it like it is.

Michele McNeill is one of the residents who believes the signs are offensive. She explains, “Do they want Muslims not to live here? Do they want blacks not to live here? Or is it just the Orthodox Jewish culture? To me it’s racist.”

One can only imagine the heartache Ms. Mcneill will endure once her friends and neighbors hear about this.

Ms. Mcneill actually brings up a really good point here though. One can only imagine the reaction if the #TomsRiverStrong campaign would be about African American’s and/or Muslims moving to the area. Al Sharpton and CAIR would be all over this thing like a hot potato.

Don’t get me wrong though. I get it. I wouldn’t want real estate agents knocking on my door multiple times at all hours of the day either. But the bigotry and racism that surrounds this campaign is inexcusable and quite un-American.

Peruse any of the “strong” social media groups. The posts are about Jews. The comments are about Jews. Many of them flagrantly anti-semitic and racist. There is no denying that. The fact that Lakewood Township has issues has nothing to do with young Orthodox Jewish couples and families seeking to live the American Dream by buying homes in the townships surrounding Lakewood. Yes. Lakewood is by and large an Orthodox town with much of the local government part of the Orthodox Jewish community. But that doesn’t mean that the issues plaguing this unique NJ town is caused by all of Lakewood’s Orthodox population. This should really be common sense, but most of these groups and “activists” don’t see it that way. To them its one big massive conspiracy created by Jews around the world. Simply peruse the Facebook page of groups like Monmouth and Ocean County Strong or #TomsRiverStrong and you should be able to come to the same conclusion.

And the idea that the Mayor of a town refers to the the influx of a specific ethnicity in his township as an “invasion” is far more disturbing than most of the anti-Semites hanging around social media. And he actually said this to Bloomberg, national and respectable (for the most part) media outlet! Its about the tone at the top. Toms River Mayor Kelaher isn’t just stirring the coals. He is the coals. He could have easily used his Bloomberg interview as an opportunity to shut down the hate. Instead, he did the exact opposite. And then he refused to apologize. Perhaps Kelaher should take the cue from Mayor Gotto of the neighboring township of Howell. Back in November of 2015, Mayor Gotto called out (NJ.com) certain residents of Howell for their antisemitic comments and behavior. But guess what? Residents are threatening a recall (they recently received approval for a petition to remove the Deputy Mayor). So I guess I understand why Kelaher is not following in Gotto’s footsteps. He is scared. But that’s no excuse. As mentioned earlier, imagine the firestorm if Kelahers comments were about “Blacks invading” Toms River. Imagine.

Further stirring the coals, the Asbury Park Press has been publishing articles in their daily rag and posts on their social media accounts about the controversy and about Lakewood in general. Peruse the comments section in some of these posts. You may actually question if we are living in the age of the Grand Kligel Fligel Duke or the age of understanding and tolerance of minorities. Furthermore the Press has a habit of posting letters to the editor that are clearly, well stupid, but also borderline antisemitic. Things like the “Jews dont pay taxes” or “the FBI should investigate all the Lakewood Jewish charities”. If not anti-semitic, they are definitely generalizations and stereotypes that even a 10 year old should be able to understand are not appropriate. Yet, we have mature adults writing these letters which then get published in a regional newspaper. At times I wonder if these letters actually express the sentiments of the Press’ staff. It definitely seems like it.

Anyways, I digress. More to come.

This is America. America is a country of coexistence. If you cant deal with it, go live somewhere else.